Wrench box



Feb. 1, 1955 E. MARTEL 2,701,052

WRENCH BOX Filed Aug. 1, 1951 AQ' 9'3 36 7/ INVENTOR.

EDMOND MARTEL Arrows/5y United States Patent WRENCH BOX Edmond Martel, New Britain, Conn. Application August 1, 1951, Serial No. 239,723

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-16) This invention relates to wrench boxes and more particularly to a wrench box for containing a set of "Allen set-screw wrenches.

It is common knowledge that Allen set-screw wrenches, because of their small size, are easily lost or misplaced. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to furnish a wrench box for containing a set of Allen wrenches in nested juxtaposition, and which is provided with separate swingable holding means for each wrench of the set, whereby any selected wrench may be swung outwardly and used, while holding the wrench box in the palm of the hand.

It is another object of this invention to provide a wrench box of the character described in which the individual Allen wrenches are frictionally held within resilient holders, whereby the wrenches will normally be retained therein but may be entirely removed from the wrench box whenever desired.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easly to install and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very efficient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view there have been illustrated on the accompanying drawing, two forms in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a plan view of the improved wrench box, the cover thereof being shown in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the improved wrench box shown with its cover in open position, and with one of the Allen wrenches swung outwardly for use.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the improved wrench box, showing the cover closed, and one of the wrenches swung outwardly for use.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged exploded perspective view illustrating one of the angle wrenches spaced from its U- shaped carrier.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of rectangular wrench carrier.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral indicates generally the improved wrench box, comprising a rectangular base 11, having a pair of opposed upstanding side walls 12, 13, an upstanding rear wall 14, and a complementary rectangular cover 15, having a pair of opposed downwardly-extending side walls 16, 17. The base 11 and the cover 15 are hinged together for relative opening and closing by means of a pair of rivets 18, 19, which, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, join the rear portions of the side walls 12, 16, and 13, 17, respectively.

Fig. 2 illustrates the wrench box in open condition and shows the appearance of a graduated set of angular Allen set-screw wrenches, lettered A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, progressively smaller in size, each such wrench being carried by and frictionally retained within respective carriers numbered 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26.

Fig. 4 shows the construction of the end carrier and the wrench A prior to its insertion in said carrier. The carrier 20 comprises an elongated open channel structure, preferably formed of spring steel, generally U-shaped in cross-section, and having opposed resilient side walls 27, 28. The rear end portions of the side walls 27, 28, are rounded as indicated by the numerals ice 29, 30, and are centrally pierced to provide a pair of opposed horizontally aligned apertures 31, 32. The resilient walls 27, 28 of the carrier 20 are so spaced as to frictionally retain within said carrier its particular wrench (in the instant example, wrench A) by pinching against opposed sides of the hexagonal handle shank thereof.

It is to be noted that the carriers 25, 26 for the smaller wrenches will preferably have the portions of their side walls cut away as indicated by the numerals 25a, 25b, of carrier 25 in Fig. 2, whereby said smaller wrenches which are reduced in thickness, may more readily be inserted in or removed therefrom.

The front end portions of the longitudinal side walls 12, 13 of the base 11 are provided with horizontally aligned apertures 12a, 13a, in which the ends of a carrier pivot rod 33 are secured. The carriers 20-26, by means of their aligned apertures 31, 32, are pivotally mounted in graduated order on the carrier pivot rod 33. A small, apertured block 34 serves to fill in the space between the carrier 26, holding the smallest wrench, and the side wall 13 of the base 11.

The front end of the rectangular cover 15 has 9. rectangular cut out portion 35, to provide a slot for facilitating manual opening of the cover. Similarly, the front end of the rectangular base 11 is cut out, to provide a rectangular slot 36 (Fig. 3), whereby clearance is allowed on both sides of the wrench box, permitting wide-angle swinging of any desired wrench during use, as illustrated in dotted lines.

Fig. 5 indicates a modified construction of wrench carrier 37, which may alternatively be used in the improved wrench box embodying the invention. The carrier 37 is rectangular in cross-section rather than U- shaped, and may have its vertical sides 38, 39 slightly inwardly bent to enhance the frictional engagement of said sides with the opposed rectangular surfaces of the respective wrench handle. It is to be understood, of course, that it is necessary to insert the Wrench handles endwise into the carriers 37 of the construction shown in Fig. 5. In other respects such modified carriers 37 are similar to the carriers 20-26, illustrated in Fig. 4.

If desired, narrow slots 40, 41 will be made in the upper edge of the sides 12, 13 of the base 11 in order to facilitate the outward swinging of the individual wrenches.

Operation To use one of the angular Allen wrenches contained in the improved wrench box 10, it is merely necessary to open the cover 15 of said box, select the desired wrench (A-G), and swing it outwardly of the base 11, and then close the cover. The wrench box 10 may then be grasped in the palm of the users hand with the selected wrench extending outwardly between his thumb and forefinger for use in the ordinary manner. Although it is usually unnecessary to remove the wrench from its carrier during use, it is to be understood that this may readily be done if desired, because of its releasable frictional engagement within its carrier.

One advantage of the improved wrench holder iS that, besides providing a handy storage container, it minimizes the possibility of accidentally losing individual wrenches from the graduated set.

Another advantage is that although the wrenches are normally attached to the wrench box, they may readily be removed for replacement, or when necessary for use in confined spaces.

While there have been disclosed in this specification two forms in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that these forms are shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the: invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures, but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

A wrench box containing a graduated set of angular Allen head set-screw wrenches, comprising the combination of a rectangular base member, a rectangular cover member, said base member and said cover member being pivotally interconnected at one end of each thereof, for relative swinging to open and shut positions, a plurality of elongated channel members of U- shaped cross section, each frictionally embracing the handle of one of said wrenches, said channel members holding said wrenches nested in graduated juxtaposition against said base member, means pivotally mounting one end of each channel member at the opposite end of said base member from the cover member pivot, whereby any one of said wrenches may selectively be swung outwardly from said base member for use while said base member is grasped in the hand of the user.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Milke Dec. 27, Mulrey May 10, Veit Mar. 29, Maitlen June 21, Derby Apr. 11, Searfoss June 6, Gibson Mar. 25,

FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Apr. 27, 

